Kilt Rock, Isle of Skye - Closed for repair work

Thanks, Jacqui! I appreciate the information.

Thanks for the update.

Any idea how long it's closed?

With regard to how long it will be closed, our local councillor has said he 'thinks' it will be closed until sometime in May. So I would take that as being at least until mid May, but could well go on beyond that. Priorities are currently our roads, which are in a shocking condition. I'd advise anyone coming here by car to take extreme car and if possible to avoid driving at night as you won't see the potholes until it's too late.

Skyegirl, thank you for the warning about driving at night because of potholes. We will be spending 4 nights on Skye in June, and we will have a rental car. What time does it get dark in June? Wondering if we should plan on having our dinners only at restaurants in Portree, where we will be staying. So we don't have to be driving around at night.

Thanks so much for the information. Disappointed kilt rock is hard to access.
We will be visiting Skye in a few weeks.

Also good to know about the roads.

Looking forward to spending a couple of days on Skye - wish it was a couple of weeks. Ahh next trip….

Hi kmkwoo
June is the month when it stays lightest for longest, so you will have reasonable light until 9.30pm at least. The main 'trunk' road (the A87) from the Skye Bridge to Uig via Portree is maintained by the Scottish Government (via a company called BEAR) and is in good condition. All the other roads on Skye are not classed as being significant enough to be 'trunk' roads and they are maintained by Highland Council. The Council tell us that the roads budget is not large enough to cover the required level of road maintenance. Skye's roads (in common with much of the Highlands) suffer from the bad weather, especially in winter when the road surface is subject to snow, ice, thawing and then rain. Potholes are patched but the patches often wear out quickly. In addition to the risk from the potholes themselves causing damage to the tyres and suspensions of vehicles, there is also the risk from stones being flicked up and causing damage to the windscreen. Obviously this is bad enough when it's just us locals driving around, but we do get to know where the worst sections of road are and we slow down! The current seasonal influx of visitors is making things more hazardous as they don't know which bits of road are bad until they (literally) hit them. Residents are reporting new potholes to the council as they happen but thus far only two really bad sections (at Sligachan and Skeabost) have been resurfaced properly.

I'm not wanting to put anyone off coming to Skye, but just think it's important to warn you all to be careful.

Penguin73, at the moment Kilt Rock is not just 'hard to access', it is completely closed. Many of the problems are caused by visitors seeing the signs to say the car park is closed, parking on the road (causing blockages to traffic flow) and then moving 6 foot high fencing panels to try to access the site. A local councillor has now posted on the 'Official Isle of Skye' facebook group to warn visitors not to try to get on to the site.

Thank you, Skyegirl. Appreciate the clarification.

"The Council tell us that the roads budget is not large enough to cover the required level of road maintenance."

Where is Calum MacLeod when he's needed the most?

Mike (Auchterless)

Skyegirl, thank you for your detailed and helpful explanation.